Outside visit to the Framework Knitters Museum at Ruddington

August 25th 2022 ‘The Framework Knitters Museum, Ruddington

16 of our members arrived at 6pm for this outside visit. We were welcomed by museum assistant and demonstrator Helen and 4 of her volunteers, who split us into 3 groups and enthusiastically gave us a tour of their set up: 1. The manager’s office and family accommodation, 2. The Framework building and 3. The Circular Knitting shop (Griswold Room)

Gill gave us the introductory briefing explaining that William Ley of Calverton first invented the Knitting frame in 1589, in an attempt to speed up his wife’s knitting, so he could see a little more of her. He applied to Queen Elizabeth for some support, but she turned him down over concern of workers losing the employment.  So off to France he moved and approached Henry 4^th. He died later in France and his brother brought the Frame machine back to England and Nottinghamshire became famous for cotton knitting, Leicestershire for wool and Derbyshire for silk.  By 1850 half the village of Ruddington was involved in the textile industry.

Samuel Parker built the Frameshops and housing (4 cottages for the workers) in 1829, building up to employing 129 people before following John Parker’s death in 1929, framework knitting sadly died out and the site became derelict, but was rejuvenated in 1969.

Examples of production rates were given for Samuel Parker: he could produce 14 shirts in a week and received 10 shillings and 9 pence for a dozen.  He could also produce 30 to 36 stockings in a week for the princely sum of 2 shillings and 9 pence!

Finally to the Griswold room to se the circular knitting machines invented by Mark Brunel (Isambard’s Kingdom’s father). These were used for home knitting.

All in all a fascinating visit full of very ingenious engineering inventions that brought the textile industry to the East Midlands and now remains as the only Framework Knitting establishment in England.                AR